Bournemouth jewellery designer's celebrity seal of approval

Bournemouth jewellery designer's celebrity seal of approval

"I think if you believe in something enough, and you focus on something enough and you've got a good product, there's no reason why it can't happen."

With her stunning, personalised jewellery coveted by celebrities including Amanda Holden, Simon Cowell and Tamzin Outhwaite, Amy Manning is living the dream.

After giving up her job as a personal creative assistant to raise her children, she discovered a passion for jewellery making, and hasn't looked back since.

"When I was pregnant with my second child I went on a jewellery-making course using silver clay," she explains. "I just fell in love with it, could not think about anything else."

Amy, who lives with her family in Bournemouth, did some more research and discovered the pieces she wanted to make were done with more traditional, silversmith methods. She undertook another course, in Christchurch, going "full steam ahead, making whatever I wanted to wear".

"My first ever piece was a tribute to my dad," she says. "I had lost him a couple of years earlier and had not seen or found anything that was what I wanted. The piece is in my collection, a charm necklace which is his name surrounded by charms affiliated to him."

The piece set the tone for the rest of Amy's work. She built two collections – It's Personal and the Capsule Collection – by making pieces requested by friends and family, photographed the pieces and put together her own website.

"I got to a point when I just thought 'I want to do this',"she says. "I launched the A R T website about a year and a half ago."

Business was slowly building but Amy, who admits to not being the most patient of people, wanted more.

"I wanted to take it to the next level," she explains. "I had the confidence in my own brand, so I started reaching out to celebrities. I don't know if it was a fluke, or luck, but the first two celebrities I wanted to ask, they said yes."

In November, Amanda Holden posted on social media about the necklace Amy sent her, and Holly Willoughby wore hers while presenting I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Amanda also ordered a piece for her husband, and another for Simon Cowell to give to his partner, Lauren Silverman.

"Amanda has been an amazing support, and so generous," says Amy, who personally delivered Simon Cowell's necklace to the London Palladium during filming of Britain's Got Talent, where Amanda invited her to stay and watch. "She wears hers all the time. Tamzin Outhwaite wanted one the other day, and Danni Minogue has got one.

"It's just good to see that word has spread."

Amy is now working on her third collection, although she struggles to find the time between designing and making orders in her "tiny little" studio.

"It's just me," she smiles, "I do it all at home. I deal with every single process other than the hallmarking. I make it all, I do all the engraving. So finding time to work on the next collection is the tricky bit.

"The next collection that I'm working on, I'm very excited about. It's going to include colour using stones, but still have personalisation. You can choose your own colour ways, so it's a personal choice.

"It will still include my signature style, which is moveability and build-ability. I love jewellery that moves, there's more to it than meets the eye.

"I want it to be as personal to everyone else as it is to me. I think a few of my designs have managed to do that."

Amy's pieces, which have been sold as far afield as America and throughout the British Isles, are priced from £50 up to around £350. She does create bespoke jewellery, but admits she doesn't have the same passion as she does for her own designs.

"Each piece always starts from me, from the heart," she explains. "They connect with me on a personal level."

"It's tricky, but I always follow my gut instinct with everything if it feels right. I stay true to myself. I'm such an honest person anyway. If my business is genuine and authentic, I think people will sense that."

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